CLEAN UP STATEN ISLAND

Staten Islanders, like residents of any other community, want and deserve a decent quality of life. Many obstacles to achieving that are out of our direct control - both as ordinary citizens and elected officials - but one of the major hurdles is not. It is something that is eminently preventable if residents have the will to defeat it: Litter.

The most frustrating part of the current litter epidemic is that Staten Islanders themselves cause it. No one else can be blamed. It is a self-inflicted wound. The fact is that litter begets more litter. When the existence of litter is tolerated by a community the problem snowballs until entire neighborhoods are subjected to its disgusting effects.

We realize that the litter problem is one that will never completely go away; It will always be a constant struggle and Staten Islanders must stay vigilant to preserve our quality-of-life. This is why the Borough President is so passionate about fighting this battle in new and creative ways.

LOCATIONS CLEANED BY THE CLEAN TEAM

TO REPORT A LOCATION THAT ﻿﻿NEEDS CL﻿﻿EANING UP...• Submit the location through our free app, BP ASSISTavailable from the Google Play Store or the iTunes Store• Send a message to Borough Hall’s Facebook account: facebook.com/statenislandusa• On Twitter: @statenislusa• Online: www.statenislandusa.com/contact• Call the Borough President’s Helpline at 718-816-2000The public has a key role to play in this effort. Begin by reporting specific locations that need to be cleaned to the Borough President's Office and/or the offices of the three Council Members. Depending on the volume, it may take some time to get to all the locations but every effort will be made to try to get to everything in a timely fashion. It is important to stress that these teams cannot go onto privately owned lots to clean. The owners of those lots are responsible for their maintenance.

OUR LITTER PLAN HAS SEVERAL KEY PRINCIPLES:

Clean up litter as quickly as possible.

Coordinate with other elected officials and agencies to ensure there are no duplicative efforts.

Encourage non-government organizations, including businesses and non-profit organizations, to become part of the solution.

Engage Staten Islanders to be aware of the issue and to make it a norm to clean litter whenever they can through creative means.

Explore new technologies that can help us more efficently clean litter.